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| 2 | 2 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1914 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1245 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Rebecca L. Rausch |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act to empower communities against environmental damage. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Rebecca L. RauschNorfolk, Worcester and MiddlesexMichael O. MooreSecond Worcester3/6/2025 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1914 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1245 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Ms. Rausch, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1245) of Rebecca L. Rausch and |
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| 19 | 19 | | Michael O. Moore for legislation to create the environmental enforcement task force. The |
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| 20 | 20 | | Judiciary. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act to empower communities against environmental damage. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 Chapter 214 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 7A the |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2following section:- |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3 Section 7B. (a) There shall be a task force known as the environmental enforcement task |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4force. The task force shall consist of: the secretary of energy and environmental affairs or a |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5designee, who shall serve as co-chair; the attorney general, or a designee, who shall serve as co- |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6chair; the commissioner of the department of environmental protection, or a designee; the |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7commissioner of the department of utilities, or a designee; the commissioner of the department |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8of fish and game, or a designee; the colonel of the Massachusetts environmental police, or a |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9designee; the chairs of the joint committee on the judiciary, or their designees; the chairs of the |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10joint committee on environment and natural resources, or their designees; the chief justice of |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11supreme judicial court, or a designee; someone from the Massachusetts Bar Association, or a |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12designee; an individual experienced in environmental law enforcement; and an individual with 2 of 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13experience representing environmental justice communities in legal proceedings. The chair may |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14invite officials from other state or federal agencies to provide legal and technical input and shall |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15have responsibility for coordinating the task force. The task force shall convene its first meeting |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16no later than December 2025. The task force shall meet not less than monthly. |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17 (b) The task force shall: (i) study the commonwealth’s capacity to enforce environmental |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18laws; (ii) developments in case law that have impacted the ability of individuals to enforce state |
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| 47 | 47 | | 19and federal environmental laws; (iii) identify state agency enforcement needs; (iv) study the |
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| 48 | 48 | | 20scope and use of civil actions under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 214, Section 7A; (v) |
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| 49 | 49 | | 21identify challenges, including but not limited to financial barriers, facing individuals in bringing |
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| 50 | 50 | | 22a civil action; and (vi) make recommendations to improve the environmental enforcement |
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| 51 | 51 | | 23process in the commonwealth, including improving access to the civil action process, in order to |
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| 52 | 52 | | 24limit damage to the environment. |
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| 53 | 53 | | 25 (c) The task force shall file its findings, recommendations and accompanying legislation, |
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| 54 | 54 | | 26if any, with the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate, the joint committee on the |
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| 55 | 55 | | 27judiciary and the joint committee on environment and natural resources not later than December |
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| 56 | 56 | | 2831, 2026. |
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